The NBA is considering some kind of competitive “diversion” between a few handpicked players while its hiatus continues, according to commissioner Adam Silver.
It could be a “giant fundraiser or just for the collective good of the people,” Silver said.
The League remains on hold due to the global coronavirus pandemic, and there still isn’t a sense as to when real games will be held again.
Per The AP:
“Maybe it’s for a giant fundraiser or just for the collective good of the people,” Silver said. “You take a subset of players and is there a protocol in which they can be tested and quarantined and isolated in some way. … People are stuck at home. They need a diversion. They need to be entertained.”
Silver offered no predictions on when NBA games would resume. He said the league may, when conditions allow, resume games but without fans — a move the league was going to make last week before Utah’s Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 and prompted the league to go on what it thought would be a hiatus, not a stoppage that is certain to reach multiple weeks and likely months.
“One thing I’ll say about the United States … we’re an incredible country and some of the greatest inventions, some of the best innovations, some of the best minds are in this country,” Silver said. “And I’m sure as people are sitting home but still working they’re thinking of these various things like how can we restart the economy and what role can the NBA play?”
Silver also said he doesn’t know when play can return.
“I don’t have a good enough sense of how long a period this is going to be,” Silver said.
